Despite not shooting well and trailing after three quarters, the Pinewood girls rallied for a 50-47 victory over Vista Murrieta in the second round of the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 Tournament on Thursday in La Jolla.
The Panthers (2-0) fell behind by 15-14 after one period and still trailed by one at the half. Vista Murrieta outscored Pinewood 17-14 in the third before the Panthers’ defense limited their foe to jump four points in the final period.
Pinewood shot 35 percent from two-point range and just 22 from 3-point range, but still had enough to overcome the upset bid. Sophomore Brianna Claros tossed in 19 points and junior Akayla Hackson added 14. Senior Chloe Eackles finished with just two points, but grabbed nine rebounds while junior Mikaela Topper dished five assists.
Elsewhere in girls’ nonleague basketball on Thursday:
In Sonoma, the Menlo-Atherton girls won their first-round game in the 2015 Dragon Classic at Sonoma Valley High, 59-28, over Analy of Sebastopol. The game was evenly matched in the first quarter with Menlo-Atherton sophomore Carly McLanahan leading the team with two 3’s and fellow sophomore Greer Hoyem adding four points inside. In the second quarter the Bears began to pull away, fueled by nine points from junior Ofa Sili. The team also had strong defensive play, holding Analy to just two points in the quarter, led by senior Annalisa Crowe and junior Megan Sparrow.
The Bears continued to surge in the third quarter as Hoyem who added 10 more points and finished the game with 20. Junior Ilana Baer anchored the offense at point guard and had several defensive steals. McLanahan added eight points in the second half and finished with 14. Sili finished with 13 points. M-A (1-0) will face Montgomery High (Santa Rosa) on Friday night at 7 p.m.
In Sunnyvale, Castilleja rode a 34-point second quarter to a 61-16 win over Yerba Buena in a third-round consolation bracket of the Fremont Firebirds Tournament. The Gators (1-2), who totaled 23 steals, were led by senior point guard Ellie Chen with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while junior Cate Alder had 13 points and four steals. Castilleja’s three freshmen filled the stat sheet, as Katie Fearon tallied 12 points, Anika Adzich had five points with seven rebounds, and Claire Pisani finished with four points and seven rebounds.
In Saratoga, Riley Hemm knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 19 points as Sacred Heart Prep opened its their season with a 50-40 nonleague victory over host Saratoga. Grace Battles added 12 points for the Gators, who held the Falcons to 14 first-half points while grabbing a 14-point halftime lead. Ma’ata Makoni added eight points and Chandi Ingram finished with six for SHP. Saratoga hurt itself by missing 15 free throws.
In Brentwood, Palo Alto opened its season with a 56-31 win over Deer Valley in the Dougherty Valley Tournament. Alexis Harris tallied 11 points and Lauren Koyama added 10 for the Vikings, who grabbed a 32-7 halftime lead and cruised despite not scoring in the fourth quarter.
In Santa Rosa, Menlo School held its own for one half before seeing Division IV power Cardinal Newman pull away for a 62-51 victory in the first round of the Cardinal Newman Tournament. The Knights (0-1) were led by Sam Erisman’s 16 points and Kenzie Duffner’s 14. Both Hannah Paye and De’Jeane Stine had four steals while combining for 14 points. Menlo will face Piedmont on Friday in the second round at 5 p.m.
In Marin, Eastside Prep improved to 2-0 with a 68-23 win over Redwood in the first round of the Ladycat Classic at Marin Catholic. Sophomore Kayla Tahaafe led the way with a triple-double of
11 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Sophomore Alaya Bell tallied 16 points with freshman Jillian David adding 11 and freshman Zion Gabriel finishing with 10, after running in the CIF State Cross Country Championships last weekend.
In Portola Valley, Ila Lane tallied 22 points and Tatiana Reeese added 19 to pace Priory to a 68-7 drubbing of visiting Summit Prep in nonleague action. Lane made 10 of 17 from the field and added six rebounds while Reese was 9 of 12. Gabby Ruiz added 11 points and four rebounds for the Panthers (2-0).
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports